April WIP brings May.... Robots?

Coley

So awesome. Her goggles nearly kill me

EliaMurrayArt

@Coley hahaha too bad they don't fit over her hair

Coley

@EliaMurrayArt ha Ha. They're even super cute on the bench! The mannequin is uber cute too

demotlj

I don't care how great any other entries are this month; I'm voting for you all the way to the top. I have so enjoyed watching you make this.

EliaMurrayArt

@demotlj omgosh I am beyond flattered! (Though I am SURE there will incredible entries) It has been an absolute joy bringing you all on this journey with me. I have never done something like this and I am so glad I have a community to share it with.

I am already thinking of what to build next and I hope next months prompt will also be an inspiration for something dimensional.

Coley

@EliaMurrayArt it's been great watching it unfold and I look forward to next month if you do this again! I was thinking I wanted to do this but it might be too much work for me LoL. We'll see!

EliaMurrayArt

@Coley I won't lie... this bas been at least a 40 hour project. It's been a HUGE time commitment. I am hoping I will get faster at it as I learn more.

But it is SO rewarding.

EliaMurrayArt

Big Reveal!

Alright guys, I want to introduce you to Lisa!

I've taken..... so many photos. I've narrowed it down to a couple... And though I think I could keep taking photos for the next week, I think I need to pull the plug. I cannot pick and cannot even tell if this looks good anymore. It's like my eyes have been burned out. But at some point you just have to stop shooting right?

So I call upon you lot to heeeelllllpppppp please!

I am going to show some edited and some not (so you if there is one you like the color of, but prefer the composition of another let me know!) I have also edited the robots eyes in a couple, so the robots eyes are interchangeable as well.

A ) This is a raw photo - no editing. Just staged and photographed.

B ) This is edited - I darkened the background to make her and the robot stand out a bit more, played with the saturation, and adjusted the robots eyes so that they are looking back at her.

C ) Another Raw image - very slight differences I notice - the robot head is propped up a bit - and the composition is a little tighter..

D ) One more edited shot - Darker background - I put in a slightly stronger spotlight on Lisa, I was imagining as though a door were ajar. And with the robot looking back at her.

IF you're sitting here thinking "damn if she'd just done this" then LET ME KNOW while I still have time haha. I'm driving myself crazy. I feel like Lisa.

I want to thank you all for coming along this journey with me! It has been an absolute BLAST - haha if anyone is a stop motion animator/knows someone who needs a puppet - I think this is something I 100% want to get into.

TessaW

Ooooo. This is tough. I think any of them would work well, but I'll give you my quick takes-

I really like the overall feel of A. To me it's a good combo of B which shows off the gesture very well and C) which has a slightly more dynamic perspective. I think I also like the robot looking at the viewer. I don't know why, but it 's just so cute and funny to me. I'm not sure if it quite looks like she's looking at the robot's head though and I'd suggest tweaking where the eyes are looking. Maybe that's just me. I do feel like C) has the best crispness/sharpness and it would be nice if you could achieve that in the others. Actually, looking at them one more time, maybe C is pulling ahead of the others for me, but I'd like to see the gaze tweaked a bit.

You have nailed the character design/expression and I love seeing the edges of the cardboard and the little coiled shrapnel.

I wouldn't be surprised if you won this month!

Coreyartus

This. is. so. So. SO Impressive. WOW. That's all I can say. WOW.

I like Image C the best--TessaW is right, it's crisper and has more contrast, I think. And the robot facing outward is good. And the green space above the image of the walls above that is sorta empty--it's so smart to leave room there for text. Wow.

Really well done. Amazing work!

EliaMurrayArt

@TessaW ugh you listed my EXACT hesitations on all of them.... I'm wondering if I can combine them somehow... I'm going to work on this. I 100% Agree with everything you've said. Thank you so much for the feedback!

EliaMurrayArt

@Coreyartus thank you so much! I can definitely work on crisping up the other images digitally. But I agree the contrast is good in that one. and the saturation.

I think what throws me about it is that I REALLY like the robot laying down... and in that one it is propped up and for some reason I just... can't get over it haha. But I feel like that is the best Lisa!! It's so hard

TessaW

Are you opposed to using photo editing to tweak things like eyes? Did you crop D at all or do you still have some edges to work with in the unedited version of D?

I'm wondering what D would look like if you painted in the robot's eyes to look at us and possible tilt the whole thing counter clockwise?

Anyways, I know this part is agonizing because it's all about subtleties, but I really think any way you go at this point you are pretty much set. Any perfecting tweaks will just be the cherry on top.

EliaMurrayArt

@TessaW actually those eyes are digitally edited to look at the girl so it would just be removing that paint overlay and then the robot would be looking directly at the camera! I’ll give it a shot. I’m also currently re-shooting because my dad pointed out some tangents in the composition

So I am trying to combine the look of C and A right now!

Coley

This is so totally mind glowingly awesome, (that was autocorrect from mind blowingly awesome but glowingly works too lol) ......wayyyy better than I was expecting and I was already expecting great stuff!
I can’t pick between them, they’re all so wonderful. Lisa is just awesome. I love her so much! You totally have to keep this up in the future!

ArtofAleksey

@EliaMurrayArt these are fantastic where did you learn how to do all this

EliaMurrayArt

Thank you @Coley !!! I really hope to do more!

@ArtofAleksey a lot of it is just me figuring things out. I've always loved sculpture, and sewing, and stop motion. I sort of just love learning how to do everything and anything. So this is my way of combining all the things I enjoy doing - sewing, needle felting, sculpting, illustration, stop motion (though I have not figured out how to actually make an animation yet.. that is SUPER hard for me.. but someday!)

EliaMurrayArt

Final Shot

Ok, so after much hemming and hawing... and my dad telling me to re-do it... I did another round of roughly 30 photos and this one caught my eye and stuck. Which is a GREAT sign. It also happens to be the VERY LAST PHOTO I took.

This is the photo edited (though I think I will keep tweaking it here and there - so not 100% finished, if you have anything to suggest, but no more photos, please, my poor back haha)

And here it is unedited. Just so you can see some of the digital work I have done since it's hard to tell. First I cropped it down. I have adjusted Lisa's eyes and mouth. I've panted over the robots eyes, added sparks, and added a little glow in his light bulb. I have adjusted the levels, and saturation.

Coley

This is the very best thing evah! This photo is perfect. The editing, the pose, the broken robot and sparks! congratulations because this is absolutely incredible! Well done to your dad lol! I don’t think I’ve ever commented on a post so much haha, I hope I didn’t drive you crazy, my enthusiasm is totally authentic and my jealousy is too maybe someday I’ll do something this cool

EliaMurrayArt

@Coley I REALLY hope you do! And then I will comment incessantly. Thank you so so so much for your enthusiasm. This has been the hardest illustration I have ever done and your cheering has been such a light in my dark tunnel hahaha I'm going to go lay down and rest. I feel like I've run a marathon.